Being
the most important trade center of Ephesus,
Agora was built in the third century B.C
in the Hellenistic Period, but the ruins
date from the reign of Caracalla (211-217
C.E)
It is in the form of a square, each side
110 meters, and surrounded completely
by columns. The Agora has 3 gates, one
from the front of the theatre on the northeast,
the other one opening to the harbor on
the west and the third one from the Celsius
Library. The north side of the Agora is
left open, and the other three sides are
surrounded by a portico, in which there
are rows of shops. At the center of the
Agora was a sundial and a water-clock.
